The present invention relates to athletic braces. It is known to provide athletic braces which are made of fabric that has been sewn into a tubular shape to slip over an arm or leg. However, the stitched seam often irritates the wearer, may come unraveled, and is labor-intensive to produce.
It is also known to provide athletic braces with protective attachments, such as cushions, foam pads or inflated bladders, which provide pressure against certain parts of the body for therapeutic purposes, for support, or for protecting certain parts of the body. However, in the past, it has been difficult to efficiently and effectively attach the protective cushioning to the braces. Typically, the protective attachments are either sewn or attached with glue onto the athletic brace, or a pocket may be sewn onto the brace, and the cushioning material inserted into the pocket.
Stitching requires substantial amounts of labor, and the resulting stitched seams on the brace can irritate the wearer. Also, stitching may come unraveled, resulting in failure of the seam. Glue can be difficult to precisely control, particularly when relatively narrow edges or intricate shapes are being joined, and the time required for the glue to set can result in increased production costs. Pockets do not secure the cushion as well as would be desired, because the cushion can shift relative to the pocket during use. Pockets also do not permit the use of intricately-shaped attachments.
Because of the constraints in the way the protective cushions have been attached to the brace, the cushions of the prior art have not been designed with intricate shapes to fit around a moving body part. Instead, protective cushions used on athletic braces generally have an oval or other simple shape. In many cases, this design feature does not provide optimum protection to the user.
Another form of protective attachment which has been used in conjunction with an athletic brace is the rigid brace. Rigid braces have been strapped onto the wearer's body along with the athletic brace to provide additional support and to provide protection against impact to the user. The straps typically are not as comfortable as an elastic brace. Rigid braces of the prior art have not been attached directly to the athletic brace, so they tend to shift during use. In addition, the rigid braces of the prior art have had very limited flexibility, making it difficult for them to conform to the knee, elbow, or other body part that bends and flexes on many different planes.